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TL;DR:

  • One of John Lennon’s albums includes covers of 1950s and 1960s hits.
  • John said he drank with a famous producer while making the album.
  • A song from the album was a hit.
The Beatles' John Lennon wearing blue
The Beatles’ John Lennon | Ron Howard/Redferns

One of John Lennon‘s albums included one of his most famous covers. John said he was hurling abuse at Yoko Ono while making the album. In addition, he said he could barely remember the recording process.

John Lennon said he was acting like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while making 1 of his albums

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono contains a 1980 interview. In it, John was asked about his covers album Rock ‘n’ Roll, which includes covers of classic 1950s and 1960s tracks. “It was such a mess that I can hardly remember what happened,” he revealed. 

“I was away from Yoko and I wanted to come back,” John added. “I did, once I got sober; when I was still drunk I would just ramble on or scream abuse at her or beg her to come back, between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I don’t know what I was saying or doing half the time.”

The famous producer of the album started drinking with the former Beatle

John discussed what it was like working with producer Phil Spector on the album. “I had always coproduced,” he said. “But on the Rock ‘n’ Roll album it took me about three weeks to convince him that I didn’t want to coproduce and I wouldn’t be sitting in the driver’s seat next to him.” 

John revealed what he wanted to do while recording Rock ‘n’ Roll. “I wanted to just be the singer, age 15, and sing these old songs I remembered,’ he said. “Then when he finally did take it on, it sort of … well, we both ended up drinking. So I don’t know, it just got into a big madhouse.”

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How John Lennon’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

Rock ‘n’ Roll became a hit in the United States. The album reached No. 6 on the Billboard 200, remaining on the chart for 15 weeks. John’s cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” became a single from the album. The cover hit No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and lasted on the chart for nine weeks.

The Official Charts Company reports Rock ‘n’ Roll was more successful in the United Kingdom. The album peaked at No. 6 there and stayed on the chart for 28 weeks. Meanwhile, John’s “Stand By Me” reached No. 30 in the U.K. and stayed on the chart for seven weeks.

Rock ‘n’ Roll became a hit even if its recording was “a big madhouse.”

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